Article 3: NX Prices
Welcome back to article three of the The Combat Arms Improvement Project. I’ve noticed that over the past two weeks the numbers of good or well written suggestions have been increasing dramatically. For the first time in a while I have seen myself and others posting more positive and meaningful responses. This seems like the right step to be taking if we want change to happen. I’ve seen several newer members as well. I don’t know about you, but it seems to me like the community campaign we are starting is gaining popularity. I’m still using super megaphones to promote the forums and my project in-game. If you have a few megaphones, using them to do the same is a great solution! Part 3: NX Prices The cost of NX items in Combat Arms are among the highest in the industry. The high prices generate quite a bit of profit for Nexon, but the players are the ones supporting the company, and their support should be rewarded. My goal in this article is not to give anyone free NX items or to lower prices so much that it simply isn’t profitable. There is a fine balance between consumers and business at which a certain price point will satisfy both parties. As it stands right now, the scale is fairly balanced, but many players say the price of NX items is rather high. I have watched the slowly rising cost of NX items as new ones have been released. I know that no matter what NX items cost, there will always be at least one person who will buy them. I am not trying to lower prices because I cannot afford a new weapon, I am Platinum Grade NX user and I am speaking for all players who feel NX is a little too expensive. The price adjustments I will be suggesting are to help everyone. Both Nexon to gain a little more customer appreciation without losing money and the players to buy that one NX item that they felt was never quite worth the money. Permanent Items Permanent items are a great way for all players to use their favorite guns without feeling the need to be attached to the game. Since the Combat Arms weapon system is based on set time duration, it can be difficult for casual players to maintain enough GP to purchase the gear they want. Not every player is capable of playing three or more games per day to earn enough GP for a single day gun. This is the niche permanent guns fill perfectly. They also allow more avid players to buy guns without having to worry about an expiration date. In addition to these benefits, buying permanent items is a much cheaper investment if the player is in it for the long run. While the upfront cost is over twice as much as any regular 90 day weapon, it is not such a high price to pay considering you have it, well, forever. These prices are relative to each other though. I know a lot of players who have bought more than one permanent gun or mercenary. Permanent items are almost always a must have for any player spending NX. As useful as permanent items are though, the cost of them does not come cheap. For 24,900 NX you can either buy a permanent assault rifle or submachine gun, for 29,900 NX you can buy a permanent sniper, and for 19,900 NX you can buy a permanent machine gun or shotgun. If players were limited to only buying one permanent gun, then this price would not be so bad. However, so many people end up buying several guns in the long run as well as other NX items. In my opinion, these prices are simply too high for a single weapon no matter how good or bad it is. These are the new prices I propose: Please note that these prices only apply to NX Standard content. I do not believe NX Rare weapons should ever be sold directly for permanent durations. These new prices are still not cheap, but they are much closer to how much permanent guns should actually cost. Occasional sales for all permanent items such as gear, premium items, mercenaries, and weapons is still a great thing to have to encourage new buyers to make their first purchase. I also decreased the price on machine guns and shotguns because, as it stands now, they are weak. In my opinion they should be buffed and increased to 19,900 NX, but until that time the price drop seems fitting. GP Rares If you are wondering why I have included a GP section in an NX Pricing article then that is good. It makes sense that a GP weapon should always be obtainable with GP and occasionally NX. Weapons have several varieties so that can be sold in unique ways. GP Rares were designed to be more difficult to obtain GP weapons; which have a small upgrade over the GP Standard variant. This is obviously true because the rank unlock for these weapons is in the officer ranks. During the AUGust Sale, the Aug A1 Black LE was sold for NX. I see nothing wrong with selling GP Rares for NX. They can be additional profit for Nexon and it also gives lower ranked players a large selection of weapons to purchase. What I disliked about this sale was that a GP weapon was sold for NX with no equivalent GP sale. If GP weapons are going to be sold for NX then it is only fair to all players that it is sold for GP as well. Since it is a rare type weapon then the price is obviously going to be higher, but the details on that are for another discussion. NX Grade Benefits When a player spends money on NX and uses it, their total spending amount is recorded and shown in-game as their NX Grade. There are seven NX grades obtainable by players ranging from nothing spent all the way up to $5,000! Only a few wealthy players have ever reached this insanely high spending limit, yet no one has received benefits for the immense support. In fact, not a single NX grade provides any bonuses at all. It makes sense that lower NX grades should not receive any benefits because that is essentially why the game is free to play. Once a player starts spends over $100, the amount of support they are now providing should be rewarded. Basically, Common through Bronze grades should not receive anything. The only way someone can receive compensation for their spending is by reaching any grade Silver or higher. The benefits provided at Silver grade will be small and more of a Thank You gift from Nexon, however, the higher grades will be given much more useful benefits. Below is the list of possible rewards for each NX grades. When asked to choose a permanent gun, you may select any weapon even if it is not available for direct purchase. The only weapons you will not be allowed to select are Epic grade weapons. NX Rare weapons chosen after reaching Platinum grade must be standard NX Rares. Several of the grades have a few rewards to choose from. If the item has an asterisk (*) at the end, you will receive that reward for reaching the corresponding NX grade regardless of your other selection. For players that are already Gold grade or above, all previous rewards will be given. Please note that for items requiring shipping, the player is responsible for contacting Nexon via a designated e-mail address with the appropriate shipping information before they are delivered. There are literally hundreds of other possible combinations for rewards that we could have. I consider this diagram a good example of how the rewards would be established. If you have your own ideas that you think would be cool to have then please share them! What's Good? NX has brought quite a few changes to Combat Arms. It has allowed Nexon to fund their game properly, but it has also given players a much larger arsenal of deadly weapons to choose from. Saving up a lot of GP to purchase an entire set of equipment is not always an easy thing to do. NX is there for those who want to save some extra GP or even to have a larger variety of weapons. Though I personally do not agree with all of the new additions, there are still plenty of players who do and will continue to buy all the new content that is released. I do not regret spending my money on Combat Arms, for any game that can keep me playing for several years is certainly worth it. TL;DR *Lower the price of permanent weapons. *Do not sell permanent GP Rares for NX unless they are sold for GP at the same time. *Reward players for financially supporting the game. That concludes my ideas for week three. If you enjoyed what you read then all comments and suggestions are welcome. Even if you didn’t like the topic I encourage you to share constructive criticism on the topic. Thanks again for all the support from everyone. I can assure you I still have many weeks of great ideas to come, many of which are my favorite topics! If you haven’t seen the news already, Crystalhaze has launched a beta version of his site – The Weekly Haze! If you are looking for a Combat Arms community that is fun and interesting then go ahead and join us. Please remember that we are not trying to undermine the Nexon forums in any way. Our goal is to provide more information and support for the CA community in addition to what Nexon already does. Be sure to tell your friends about The Weekly Haze so we can grow and establish a mature and fun community. The teaser for next week’s article is: With great power comes great responsibility. Thanks for reading! Category:Game Improvements